Fifa 10 iPhone App Review.

The first thing to note about FIFA10 is how little has been actually stripped from the console version. In addition to your standard "Training," "Penalty Shootout" or the basic "Kick Off!" the game offers three extra game modes for your delight, each with its own twists and specific game play. The awesome thing to note here is that with FIFA10 you get to experience the game from all perspectives involved: the manager, the team player and the team. This only leaves one addition for feature development with FIFA10: the cheering fan or the football hooligan.

Game Modes Make It Worth Playing

Jokes aside though! First off, you have the "Be A Pro" mode, where you can control a player of your choosing, build him from the ground up, play as him and take him to the top. Creating your own player in your own image is also possible, but if you want to take charge of Cristiano Ronaldo, that's as good a start as any. What this game mode brings about is the full control of only one player, and not the whole team. Sure, you can control the player's tactical position on the field, but that won't guarantee passes to him. Your player is nevertheless assessed on what he does with the ball when he has it. You also have an additional set of controls to learn, and getting used to the third person camera view of the field is the first obstacle you have to overcome in "Be A Pro" mode with FIFA10.

Then, you can choose to act as your team's manager in "Manager" mode. While this game mode by no means wants to act as a replacement for dedicated titles, it is nevertheless a game mode that makes FIFA10 that much better and complex. You can either control the players or simulate the match and watch it take place in a text-like format. But you're not restricted to one of them, so feel free to jump in in the middle of the game if you feel your team is losing.

The final option is playing in Tournament mode, where you can choose to battle it out in one of 20 licensed tournaments around the world. Like I've said before, it's simply surprising to see that so much has been ported from console to mobile with FIFA10.

Easy To Use Intuitive Controls

And that includes controls. At first glance, yes, they suck. Your player runs too slow, he doesn't pass when you ask him to, and you'll be scoring a lot of touchdowns. Getting used to them however is pretty darn easy. You have a 8-way virtual pad with which you can control your player's movements on your bottom-left corner and two buttons (A and B) to control passing and shooting (while on the offense) and tackling (while defending). You'll find out that after your first couple of matches, you'll dance around your opponents, making precise turns and sliding tackles. That being said, at first it feels like there should be a beginner's mode to ease you into the game, but that's why "Kick Off!" is there, even if you learn the hard way.

Combos of the two main buttons A and B enable options such as pass-through balls or sliding tackles, while trick moves are also left to be discovered. You can choose to control the game with the iPhone's accelerometer, but I found that to be more of an annoyance than actual fun.

Competitive AI

With AI, well, I must say I was a little disappointed especially in the first two levels of the game. There's plenty of "hacks" to be done to confuse your opponent, and FIFA10 openly exposes them through tips right before game start. For example, double-tapping "B" while defending will bring two defenders to tackle, well, more like run after, your opponent, who, instead of doing a drible, or, even better, passing the ball, chooses to run away, more often than not towards his own goal. It's pretty clear that if he turn in any direction, you'll get the ball with on of the two defenders that are running after him like hounds. Go Pro and you'll find that Ai increases considerably and rarely do the tips you get can be applied.

With each game you play, you advance in ranks. FIFA10 has a kind of prestige system where you're awarded points based on your in-game and end-of-game performace. Hattricks, a clean shhet, a high percentage of shots on target, all are recognized as achievements. Points and achievements unlock various bonuses within the game, which we'll leave up to you to discover.

EA definitely put a lot of work into providing FIFA10 with the game depth the title deserves. The game supports over 30 leagues from around the world, and you can play as any of the 570 teams that gather over 13,000 players in 20 licensed tournaments including World Cup, Spanish Cup or Primera Division. And that's just demeaning a great game to numbers and statistics. Players and teams are licensed, so you'll actually be controlling Ronaldinho from FC Barcelona, and not Rinoladoh from FC Bercelunia.

Graphics

Graphics are stunning, with comprehensive end game highlights and the instant replays add to the natural feel of the game. Multiplayer is also available through local WiFi. Bad news? No internet mode, so you can't play against your friends unless they're on the same WiFi network as you. Tsk, tsk, tsk EA!

FIFA10, with its sometimes crappy AI and no way to kickoff on the internet, is still the game to refer to when talking football on the iPhone. With all the thought that was put into it, the game depth, the stunning graphics real-life-like controls and the licensed teams and players, it's no wonder the game is a whooping $9.99 in the AppStore.